


A Moment in Time

by starchaser22



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, time traveling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 09:39:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13408518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starchaser22/pseuds/starchaser22
Summary: In a world where everyone’s life is just a countdown, measured by the clocks on their wrists, calculating how long until they meet their soulmate, Nate has always felt like an outsider. Of course, that was before he became a Legend.





	A Moment in Time

**Author's Note:**

> i literally wrote this a year ago, found it in my files, and decided to add a hasty ending to it. yikes.

A man walks on a train.

He carries a black duffle bag, hair windblown to the side in a way that seemed intentional. His thick-rimmed glasses sat atop his nose, enlarging his eyes to an outside viewer only slightly. A navy blue jacket hung loosely at his sides, zipper clanging against the side of the train as he hops on, narrowly missing the automatic closing doors.

Beside Nate, his friend sat a little straighter, eyes watching the man as he joined their cabin, sitting in the seat behind them.

Nate glanced at his friend’s wrist.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

“Excuse me, ma’am?” The man spoke up behind them, tapping Nate’s friend on the shoulder. “Did you drop this?” He held out a bus pass between them.

And just like that, two people were joined on a path of destiny. Everyone is born with a timer on their wrist, counting down to the moment they met the love of their life, their soulmate. Nate had agreed to accompany his friend today; she had known that she was going to run into her soulmate and asked Nate to tag along for support.

He looked down at the inside of his own wrist.

Zero.

It has always been zero.

\------------------------------------------

It wasn’t long before Nate began noticing the discrepancies among his notes. He is a historian, not a scientist, but he knew that something wasn’t right. The underlying mistakes in records and documents were really quite obvious, if one knew how to look for them.

Time was cementing, and he only noticed because some of his very well-respected documents were contradicting each other. Some said that World War II ended in 1942, some said 1947, some said that Nazi Germany had dropped a nuclear bomb on New York City, some say that they never had access to such technology. This was far beyond minor translation errors.

And, well, who other than Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, to help him uncover what caused these?

He did expect doubt, several punches to his face, and a lot of resistance.

He did not expect an underwater time-traveling spaceship occupied by known criminal Mick Rory, kept in a stasis for the past seventy years.

He definitely did not expect to join said criminal on an adventure dating back to the prehistoric era in order to rescue the rest of the so-called “Legends.”

Furthermore, he obliged, and it may have been the best choice of his life.

\----------------------------------

Oliver Queen was right. He had always wanted to do this, had been waiting for something like this to come along, he just didn’t realize it.

Nate had always dreamed of time travel, it just seemed like a far-off sci fi trope.

But, really, what kid didn’t dream of traveling through time? It was wicked cool, and he got to be with freaking superheroes.

Nate had quickly developed a type of admiration for Mick. His exterior made him seem like a type of shell, hard and empty, but underneath housed a gentler man, protective of those closest to him and burned by the death of his best friend.

Of course, Nate loved Ray. Aside from the fact that the guy had lived with dinosaurs for six months, he was a respectful geek, born of Nate’s same respectful geek-ness. Ray’s main focus was science, and Nate’s was history, but they were continuously met with similar interests to respectfully geek-out about.

As they dashed around time, he met Sara, Jax, Doctor Stein–and he loved them all, but they seemed cautious around him, like they were unsure if his presence was a good thing, which was completely understandable, as their recent events would have taken quite a toll on any normal person. They have been through a lot together, even before hopping on the Waverider, so if Nate was occasionally pushed aside, he understood.

\-----------------------------------

Nate’s timer wasn’t at zero.

He was in the 1930s, and his timer really wasn’t at zero.

Really, this would make sense. It counts down to the moment you meet your soulmate, and as of this point of time, he hasn’t yet.

But Nate doesn’t have a soulmate.

His timer was malfunctioning, of course. Why else would it be counting down to three hours from now?

Obviously, it was a mistake.

\-----------------------------------

When Nate’s timer hit zero, he met the Justice Society of America.

Apparently his soulmate was a super-powered secret government soldier from World War II.

This had to be a mistake.

Time travel had to screw with this sort of thing, right? Nate did not have a soulmate. Maybe the time travel gods were just messing with him. “Hey, this guy doesn’t have a soulmate, let’s make him think that it’s actually someone from seventy years before he’s born! Haha, won’t that be a hoot!”

But then Amaya joined the team, and Nate was captivated. He knew that she was only onboard to avenge Rex Tyler, her late lover from the JSA, but she was so admirable. Between her bravery, determination, and optimism throughout the most impossible situations, it was hard not to fall for her. Nate couldn’t imagine someone more perfect.

He had originally pushed his feelings aside; Rex Tyler had to have been her soulmate, right? Besides, Nate didn’t have a soulmate.

Then came the night in the tent.

Christmas Eve, 1776, and it was truly a miracle. Nate felt nothing short of blessed to share such a tender, unique moment with the most captivating woman to ever live.

In the afterglow, he felt renewed, like his life had been altered by this single event. A new wave of color; yellow light glowing as a calming blue washed over him.

That time on the train was only months ago, but it felt like eons. Maybe it’s not a typical love story, stumbling onto the path of your soulmate as he had, but he couldn’t care less. Everything was perfect, and all that mattered, in this moment, was Nathaniel Heywood and Amaya Jiwe.

**Author's Note:**

> i remember working so hard on the beginning, and the end really doesnt do it justice. i might revist this later on to add something more suitable.


End file.
